


The Postcard

by hermitpanda



Series: Coffee & Pie [16]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 13:23:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8626138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitpanda/pseuds/hermitpanda
Summary: “I know where all of this is going. I know what you and I are building towards, and I know what the outcome of my relationship with Jack will be. I know all of that. I’m okay with it, Aaron. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Second of three! A little bit of a time jump from The Confrontation. Just a couple months. Enjoy :D  
> ~* HermitPanda *~
> 
> Tumblr: [The Hermit Village](http://hermit-panda.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show. Just borrowing them.

Aaron’s eyebrows shot up when he saw the postcard laying on top of the other mail in the mailbox. He recognized the lighthouse as the one on the Washington coast team had just returned from after four days on a case. He flipped the card over. It was addressed to Jack from Spencer. He forced himself to flip it back over before he read the short note written in the message box. 

 

“Spencer?” he called out to the man unloading luggage from the car.

 

“Yeah?” He turned and looked at Aaron curiously.

 

“What’s this?” The older man held up the postcard, forgetting that Spencer wasn’t wearing his glasses or contacts. He had taken his contacts out so he could sleep on the plane and hadn’t bothered putting his glasses on since Aaron was the one driving home.

 

Spencer squinted at him. “I’m not sure. It’s just a blob from this distance.”

 

Aaron hurried up the driveway. “You sent Jack a postcard?”

 

“Oh, yeah. That’s the first time we’ve beat it home. Usually, he gets them before we come back.” Yawning, Spencer grabbed his bags and started into the house. 

 

Aaron grabbed his own bags and followed more slowly, lowering the garage door and dropping the pile of mail on the kitchen table before heading up the stairs to the master bedroom. He smiled when he saw that Spencer had dropped his bags in a heap by the closet door. His clothes were draped across the bench at the foot of the bed and the younger man had already curled up on top of the blanket near the middle with a pillow over his head. He hesitated and debated with himself. He usually emptied his go bag and repacked it right away, but he really wanted to curl up in bed with his boyfriend and fall asleep until Jessica and Jack got home. “Are you asleep yet?” 

 

“Soon. Why?” Spencer pulled the pillow off his face and opened one eye to watch Aaron. “You need blackout curtains.”

 

He nodded and started undressing. “Why did you send Jack a postcard?”

 

Spencer yawned. “When you first told him that we were dating, he asked me to send him a postcard every time we traveled. So I have been. I thought you knew.”

 

“No, I didn’t know,” he shook his head and frowned.

 

“If it bothers you, I’ll stop. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I already write my mom a letter every day.” Spencer squinted at him again.

 

“It doesn’t bother me. I just didn’t know. I’m not sure what to think of him not telling me. Why does he want postcards? Is he collecting them now? I could have sent them to him.” Aaron pulled back the blankets and gestured for Spencer to get underneath before laying down next to him. 

 

“You really don’t know?” Spencer rolled onto his side facing him. “He has a book that he saves the postcards I send him in. I got it for him at the street festival. I don’t think Jack’s interested in just any postcards. He wants postcards specifically from me. You call him every day, even if it’s just to leave a voicemail for him to listen to. He wants to know that I’m thinking about him when I’m not here.”

 

The older man scrubbed a hand over his face. “Shit.”

 

“I’ll stop. I’ll talk to him later and explain that I can’t send him cards anymore,” Spencer said quietly.

 

Aaron grimaced. “No. That’s not what I mean. I didn’t realize that he was attaching himself to you so quickly. Apparently, you know more about what’s going on with my son than I do. Keep sending him the postcards if you want to.”

 

Spencer ran his fingertips across the other man’s bicep. “I figured since you two are so close that he had already talked to you, that nothing he was telling me was anything you didn’t already know.”

 

“I’ll talk to him later.” Aaron sighed. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to have a relationship with him that you don’t want or aren’t ready for.”

 

The younger man leaned and in kissed him. “I know where all of this is going. I know what you and I are building towards, and I know what the outcome of my relationship with Jack will be. I know all of that. I’m okay with it, Aaron. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here. Jack hasn’t forced anything that I haven’t wanted for myself. If he does, I’ll tell you and him.”

 

“You’re psychic now?” Aaron smiled.

 

“No, a really good profiler.” Spencer chuckled. “I like picking out the postcards for Jack. I like sitting with him when we get home, telling him about where we were. I try to pick cards that will pique his curiosity. Something historical. Or some natural formation. Maybe someone interesting.”

 

“Sounds like you do it as much for you as you do for Jack.” Aaron yawned and pulled the other man closer to him.

 

“I do. I’m sorry you didn’t know.”

 

“I’ll talk to Jack later. See why he kept it from me,” the older man responded quietly before drifting off to sleep. 

 

He finally got the chance to talk to his son before dinner while Spencer and Jessica debated which wine to open. “Why didn’t you tell me you had asked Spencer to send you postcards?”

 

Jack looked up from his coloring book with a sheepish expression. “I didn’t want you to tell me I couldn’t. You always say you need them to concentrate on the case.”

 

“It’s okay. Spencer can still send you postcards. You really like him, don’t you?” He stroked his son’s hair.

 

“He’s fun. He does all those science things and helps me with my homework. When he explains it, it’s not boring like when the teacher does. And…” He trailed off.

 

“And what, Jack?”

 

The boy sighed. “He makes me feel safe like you and Aunt Jess do.”

 

Aaron nodded in understanding. Jack had developed a fear of strangers in the aftermath of Haley’s death. It had taken him several months of therapy to feel comfortable in public again even with his father or aunt with him. His acceptance of Spencer as a protector was a good sign. Not only was the boy bonding with the genius, he felt safe with him in a way he still didn’t feel safe with the other BAU team members. “Spencer would never let anything happen to you,” he said as the man in question appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Aaron held up a finger behind his son’s head to delay the announcement of dinner.

 

“I know, Dad.” 

 

“So you save the cards?” Aaron smiled at his son.

 

The boy nodded. “He bought me a book for them.”

 

“May I see them?” He saw his son hesitate and avert his eyes quickly. “I just want to see the pictures. You don’t have to let me see what Spencer wrote.”

 

Jack nodded and spotted Spencer waiting in the doorway. “Okay, you can look at them after dinner.” 


End file.
